Semiautomatic operating device for garment presses



June 20, 1944. w. s. GRAHAM SEMI-AUTOMATIC OPERATING DEVICE FOR GARMENTPRESSES Filed April 30, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet l W 5 G'Ta am June 20, 1944.w s GRAHAM 2,351,956

SEMI-AUTOMATIC OPERATING DEVICE FOR GARMENT PRESSES Filed April 30, 19425 Sheets-Sheet 2 Graham June 20, 1944.

w. s. GRAHAM 2,351,956

SEMI-AUTOMATIC OPERATING DEVICE FOR GARMENT. PRESSES Filed April 30,1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 June 20, 1944.

w. s. GRAHAM 2,351,956

SEMI-AUTOMATIC OPERATING DEVICE FOR GARMENT PRESSES 5 Sheets-Sheet 5Filed April 50, 1942 gnu: nfcw Vl l 'raiza/m Patented June 20, 1944SEMIAUTQMA'IIG OPERATING DEVICE FOR GARIVIENT PRESSES Wallace ScottGraham, Lancaster, 01110 Application April 30, 1942, Serial No. 441,177

9 Claims.

This invention relates to an attachment which is adapted to be appliedto all types of manually operated garment presses, and to provide asemiautomatic operator for closing and opening the press head and formaintaining the press head in a. closed position for a predeterminedperiod of time.

More particularly, it is an aim of the invention to provide a device bymeans of which the closing of a press head by a foot pedal and theopening of the press head by an upward pushing movement thereof isdispensed with, and in lieu thereof the operator by the simple expedientof pulling the press head slightly toward a closed position will causethe device, constituting the invention, to be placed in operationthereby for exerting the necessary additional pressure to close and holdthe press head closed, and to thereafter return the press head to afully opened position.

Still a further aim of the invention is to provide manually controlledvalves, forming a part of the attachment and by means of which the speedof movement of the press head can be regulated.

A further object of the invention is to provide a. manually regulatedmeans for varying the time interval that the press head will be retainedin a fully closed position.

Still another object of the invention is to provide means actuated, asthe press-head begins to move toward an open position for opening thevalve of the suction line of the press in order that the moisture can beremoved from the press buck, and the garment mounted thereon.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will hereinafter becomemore fully apparent from the following description of the drawings,which illustrate a preferred embodiment thereof, and wherein:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a garment press showing theattachment applied thereto,

Figure 2 is an enlarged fragmentary, front elevational view of the same,

Figure 3 is an enlarged, vertical, sectional view taken substantiallyalong the plane of the line 3-3 of Figure 2,

Figure 4 is a horizontal sectional view taken substantially along theplane as indicated by the line,44 of Figure 3,

Figure 5 is an enlarged, fragmentary, side elevational view of a portionof the attachmentand showing the parts in full lines in a partly loweredposition and in dotted lines in a fully lowered position,

Figure 6 is a vertical sectional view taken substantially along theplane of the line 8-6 of Figure 5,

Figure 7 is an enlarged, vertical sectional view taken substantiallyalong the plane of the line 1-1 of Figure 1,

Figure 8 is an enlarged, fragmentary, front elevational view of a partof the attachment,

Figure 9 is an enlarged, horizontal, sectional view taken substantiallyalong the plane of the line 9-9 of Figure 2,

Figure 10 is a vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale, takensubstantially along the plane of the line ifl-l ll of Figure 2,

Figure 11 is an enlarged, longitudinal, vertical, sectional view of thevalve housing which is mounted in the suction line, and

Figure 12 is an enlarged, horizontal sectional view taken substantiallyalong the plane of the line l2-i 2 of Figure 5.

Referring more particularly to the drawings, wherein like referencecharacters designate like or corresponding parts throughout thedifferent views, l5 designates generally a conventional garment pressand which includes a base IS, a table IT, a press fbuck l8, and a presshead l9 which is mounted in the usual manner by a lever 20 which ispivoted to a standard 2| which rises from the back edge of the table II.The rear end of the lever 20 is pivotally connected to one end of a link22 which is pivotally connected at its opposite end to an end of a link23, the oppositev end of which, link 23, is pivotally connected to abearing standard 24 which rises from the bottom of the base It. A link25 is pivoted at one end thereof to the link 23 near its firstmentioned, upper end and is pivotally connected at its opposite end to asimilar link 26. The opposite end of the link 26 is pivoted at 21 to thebase IS. A lever 28 is likewise pivoted at one end thereof to thebearing standard 24 and extends forwardly therefrom relatively to thebase It and has one end of a link 29 pivoted thereto, intermediate ofits ends. The opposite end of the link 29 is pivotally connected to thelink 26, intermediate of the ends thereof. It will be readily apparentthat the links 25 and 26 combine to form a toggle joint, and thecomplementary links 22 and 23 likewise combine to form a second toggleJoint. The parts previously described constitute parts of a,conventional garment press and form no part ofthe. present invention,which will hereinafter be described, but are illustrated and described,merely to better illustrate the ap plication of the invention, and it isto be understood that the invention is not intended to be limited to usewith a garment press of the type illustrated but is adapted for use onall types of garment presses, as will hereinafter become readilyapparent from the following description of the invention, consideredwith the accompanying drawings.

The invention, designated generally 33 includes a housing, designatedgenerally 3|, which is suitably supported on the base l3. The housing3|, as best seen in Figure 3, is provided with a removable cover 32 andcontains a cylinder 33 which is disposed in the rear part thereof andwhich is provided with closed ends. A piston 34 is slidably mounted inthe cylinder 33 and has a piston rod 35 depending therefrom andextending through and slidably disposed in a stufling box 33 which ismounted in the bottom of the housing 3|.

The rear portion of the housing 3| is provided with a rearwardly,projecting portion which forms a valve casing 31 and which is providedwith a substantially upright, circular opening 33. The valve casing 31is provided with a passage 33 which communicates with the opening orbore 33 and which opens outwardly of the upper part thereof and to whichis connected a pipe 43. The opposite end of the pipe 40, not shown, isconnected to a source of supply of steam, compressed air, or othersuitable fluid or liquid under pressure. Disposed in the pipe 43 is areducing valve 4| of conventional construction and which functions in aconventional manner to limit the pressure of the steam entering into thebore 33 so that the pressure of the steam therein will at all times beuniform. As best seen in Figure 3, the rear wall of the housing 3| isprovided with an upwardly extending passage 42, which extends from theopening or bore 38 and which opens into the upper end of the cylinder33, and a downwardly extending passage 43 is likewise extended from thebore 33 and which opens into the cylinder 33 adjacent its lower end. Avalve stem 44 extends horizontally through the bore 33 and is iournaledin the valve housing 31. A valve 45 is disposed in the bore 33 and iskeyed to the stem 44. Valve 45 has an arcuately shaped head 43 whichtumably engages the circular outer wall of the bore 38 and which is of alength circumferentially, of substantially less than 180 degrees. Thehead 43 is provided with an elongated outwardly opening recess 41 theends of which are spaced from the ends of said head. As best seen inFigure 4, one side wall of the valve casing 31, designated 43, isremovable for applying and removing the valve 45. Said side wall 43 anda portion of the housing 3| are recessed to provide a port 49 forming anexhaust'port and which opens into an exhaust pipe 53 which is attachedto the outer side of the housing 3| and to the removable wall 43. Avalve housing 5| is in threaded engagement with an opening 52 near thetop and bottom of the housing 3|. Valve housings 5| open into thepassage 42 and 43 and are internally threaded to receive valves 53,having valve stems 54 projecting outwardly therefrom and provided withknobs 55. The valves 53 have tapered inner ends 53 which are adapted toseat in recesses 51, when the valves 53 are advanced by being turned inone direction for closing the passages 42 and 43. The upper valve, whichcontrols the passage 42, is designated generally 53, and the lowervalve,

which controls the passage 43, is designated genorally '3.

Housing 3| is provided with an outwardly projecting, perpendicularlydisposed extension 33 having an outwardly opening groove 3|, whichextends from end to end thereof and which is wedge shaped in crosssection, as seen in Figure 4. Groove 3| forms a guide for a bar 32 whichis slidably mounted therein and which is similarly shaped in crosssection. In Figure 12, a plate or bar 33 is disposed across the upperend of the guide groove 3| and is attached to the enlargement 33 byfastenings 34. The enlargement 30, intermediate of its ends, is providedwith a transverse slot 33, through which extends one end 33 of a lever31, which lever is pivotally mounted, near its end 33 by means of a pin33. which extends'through the portion 30. An arm 33 is keyed to one endof the valve stem 44 and extends forwardly therefrom and has its freeend disposed above and in the path of movement of lever end 33 so thatwhen said end is swung upwardly the arm 33 will be moved upwardly forturning the valve 43 in a clockwise direction, as seen in Figure 3. Apin 13 projects outwardly from the bar 32 and a detent 1| is pivotallymounted, intermediate of its ends, on the pin 13 for swinging movementrelatively to the bar 32. A second pin 12 projects outwardly from thebar 32, above the pin 13. Detent 1|, adjacent its upper end, is providedwith a laterally opening notch 13 to engage the pin 12 when the detent1| is disposed longitudinally of the bar 32, as seen in Figure 5. Thedetent 1| is provided with a notch 14 in its lower end which is adaptedto engage the upper side of the free end of the arm 33. A spring latchmember 13 is attached to one of the fastenings 34 and depends downwardlytherefrom and is provided with a hook 13 at its lower end which isarranged to engage the pin 12, when the bar 32 is moved to a raisedposition, as seen in dotted lines in Figure 3, for holding said bar in araised position, and also for engaging the detent 1| to rock it to aposition substantially obliquely to the longitudinal axisof the bar 32,for positioning its notch 14 over the free end of the arm 33, aslikewise seen in dotted lines in Figure 3. The portion 33 is providedwith a longitudinally extending outwardly projecting cam portion 11, asbest seen in Figure 5, which is disposed to engage the upper end of thedetent 1|, as the bar 32 moves downwardly, for swinging the detent 1|from its dotted line position in Figure 3 to the positions as seen infull lines and in dotted lines in Figure 5, for moving the notch end 14out of engagement with the arm 33 after the arm has been swungdownwardly by the detent 1| to its full line position in Figure 5.

The forward, restricted portion of the housing 3| is provided with acylinder 13 having an upwardly opening upper end formed by an opening 13in the cover 32. A plunger 30 is slidably disposed in the cylinder 13and extends outwardly through the opening 13 and is provided with a head3| at its upper end. A rod 82 is secured at its upper end to the head 3|and extends downwardly therefrom. The other end, 83, of the lever 31 isdisposed in the path of movement of the rod 82 so that when the plunger33 moves downwardly, the lower end of the rod 32 will engage the leverend 83 and swing it downwardly from its full line to its dotted lineposition of Figure 5, to thus cause the lever 31 to be rocked forraising the arm 89. The housing II is provided with an integralextension 84 at the bottom of its forward part which is provided with abore 85 which communicates with the lower end of the cylinder I8. A pipe88 has, one end disposed in the bore 85 and extends outwardly therefrom.

Referring particularly to Figure 2, the opposite end of the pipe 88 isconnected to a T joint 81 intermediate of the endsv of said joint. Pipes88 and 89 are connected at their adjacent ends to the opposite ends ofthe joint 81. A manual shut-off valve 90 is mounted in pipe 88 and amanual shut-oil valve 9I is mounted in pipe 89. The opposite end of thepipe 88 extends downwardly and into a vessel or container 92, which issupported thereby, and terminates adjacent the bottom thereof. Pipe 88is also provided with a check-valve 93 which opens in a direction awayfrom the vessel 92. The opposite end of the pipe 89 extends into thevessel 92 and pipe 89 is also provided with a check-valve 94 which opensin a direction toward the vessel 92. Vessel 92 is adapted to contain asuitable cushioning liquid, such as 011, glycerine, or water.

When the plunger 80 is moving upwardly it will create a suction in thelower part oi. the cylinder I8 for drawing the cushioning liquid (Figure7), from the vessel 92 through the pipe 88 and into the cylinder I8.When the plunger 80 is moving downwardly the fluid will be forcedoutwardly from the bottom of the cylinder I8 and back into the vessel 92through the pipe 89, the check-valves 93 and 94 preventing the liquidfrom flowing in the other direction through the pipes 88 and 89,respectively.

Housing 3| is provided with a depending bearing 95 through the lower endof which the piston rod 35 slidably extends. The piston rod 35 isprovided with a crosshead 96 below the bearing 95 and adjacent its lowerend. Crosshead 96 is adapted to engage the lower end of the bearing 95to limit the upward movement of the piston 34. The lower end of theslide bar 82 is pivotally connected at 91 to the crosshead 98 so as toslide with the piston 34. A rod 98 is connected at its upper end to thehead 8| and extends downwardly on the outer side of the housing 3I andhas its lower end disposed in the path of upward movement of crosshead98 so that as the crosshead moves upwardly the plunger 80 will be raisedand the limit of the upward movement of the plunger is likewisecontrolled by the crosshead engaging the bearing 95. A pair of links 99are pivotally connected at their upper ends to the lower end of thepiston rod 35, below the crosshead 98 and are pivotally connected attheir opposite, lower ends to the forward end of the lever 29 whichextends outwardly through the base I6 through a perpendicular slot Itherein which extends from the rear thereof.

A bar MI is suitably attached to the forward part of the base I8. Aninverted L-shaped lever I02 is pivotally connected at the apex to thebar IM and has one arm I03 extending laterally therefrom and its otherarm I04 depending downwardly. The depending arm I04 is provided on itsouter side and adjacent its lower end with an elongated, outwardlyprojecting flange I the upper end of which is curved inwardly,relatively to the base I8, and the lower end of which is curvedoutwardly. The crosshead 98, as best seen in Figure 9, is provided withan inwardly extending flange I08 which is disposed at an oblique angleto the perpendicular and A suction pipe line I01, forming 'a part oftheconventional garment press I5, extends to the III haust port 49.

press buck I8, at one end thereof, not shown, and has its opposite endconnected to suitable suction means not shown, and for creating asuction in the pipe I01 in a direction as indicated by the arrows I08. Avalve I09, as best seen in Figures 2 and 11, is interposed in the pipeI01 and is provided with a downwardly extending, slidably mounted valvestem IIO. As best seen in Figure 10, a collar II I is secured to thevalve stem H0 and a second collar H2 is adjustably connected to the stemIIO, above the collar III. The free end of the arm I03 is provided withan opening II3 which loosely engages the rod IIO, between the collarsIII and H2. An expansion coil spring H4 is mounted on the stem IIObetween the collar III and the arm I03 to normally hold the lever I02 inits position of Figure 2. As seen in Figure 11, the valve I09 isarranged to open on the upward movement of the stem H0 and to close onthe downward movement thereof. As the piston rod 35 moves downwardly thecam element I08 rides over the outer side of the flange I05, which formsa cam for swinging the lever arm I04 to the right or to its dotted lineposition of Figure 8, and on past the lower end of the flange I05. Thiscauses the arm I03 to swing downwardly thereby compressing the springII4 so that the arm I03 can move relatively to the stem IIO. When thecam element I08 moves beyond the lower end of the flange I05 the springIl4 returns the arm I03 and the lever I02 to its full line position inFigure 8. When the piston rod 35 moves upwardly the cam element I08engages the opposite, inner side of the flange I05 to swing the arm I04to the left and the arm I 03 upwardly, as seen in the dot-dash lines inFigure 8. This causes the arm I03 to engage the collar II2 to move itupwardly for opening valve I09. After the cam element I08 is movedbeyond the upper end of the flange I05 the lever I02 will return bygravity to its normal position of Figure 2 and the valve I09 will closeby gravity and also due to the suction in the pipe line I01.

Assuming that the valve 45 is in its position as seen in Figure 3, inwhich position the piston 34 and plunger will be in their raisedpositions, the operator of the press by grasping the handle II5 of thepresshead I9 and pulling downwardly thereon to move the pressheadslightly toward a closed position, will cause the adjacent ends of thelinks 22 and 23 to swing outwardly and the adjacent ends of the links 25and 28 to move downwardly thereby causing the forward end of the lever28 to swing downwardly slightly to move the piston 34 slightly toward alowered position. This will cause the detent II to swing the valve arm89 downwardly from its dotted line position of Figure 3 to its full lineposition of Figure 5 thereby moving the valve 45 in a counter-clockwisedirection, as seen in Figure 3, so that the passage 42 will be open andthe passage 43 closed except for its communication by means of therecess 41 with the ex- The steam under pressure will then flow from thebore 39 through the passage 42 into the upper end of the cylinder 33 andabove the piston 34 to force the piston 34 downwardly from its positionof Figure 3 to its lower, dotted line position of Figure 5. It will bereadily obvious that the other parts connected to the been swungdownwardly to rock the end of the lever 61, designated l3, upwardly, thedetent II will be moved out of engagement with the arm 69 by the cammember 11. As the piston 34 moves downwardly the steam in the lowerportion of the cylinder 33 will be exhausted through the passage 43, therecess 41 and the exhaust port 43. The crosshead 98 when movingdownwardly moves away from the lower end of the rod 3| and the plunger80 thereafter moves downwardly by gravity and the speed of its movementis regulated by manual adjustment of the valve 9| so that the plunger 30will reach a lowermost position at a predetermined time after the piston34 has reached its lowermost position. During the downward movement ofthe piston 34 the cam element I06 will ride over the outer side'oi theflange I", as previously described, without aflecting the position ofthe valve I09. It will thus be readily apparent that the presshead I!will be closed and held in a closed position by the piston 34 until theplunger 80 has substantially reached its lowermost position, at whichtime the rod 32 will contact the elevated, lever-end 83 to swing saidend down wardly to return the valve 45 to its position 0! Figure 3, aspreviously explained. This will expose the passage 43 so that the steamcan flow therethrough to the lower end or the cylinder 33 for raisingthe piston 34. Likewise, as seen in Figure 3, the piston moves upwardlyand the steam thereabove will pass outwardly through passage 42, recess41 and exhaust port 43. As the piston 34 moves upwardly the crosshead 90win engage the rod as to carry the plunger ll upwardly and to draw fluidfrom the receptacle 3! into the lower part of the cylinder ll.Furthermore, during the initial upward movement of the piston the 'leverI02 will be rocked in a clockwise direction. as seen in Figure 8, toopen the valve I09, as previously explained, so that the suction in thepipe line I01 will draw the moisture from the garment disposed on thepress buck It. It will be readily apparent that the speed of movement ofthe piston can be regulated by adjustment of the valves 53 and 53 and tosome extent by adjustment of the valve 90. Furthermore, on the upwardmovement 01 the piston 34 the forward end of the lever 23 will be raisedfor returning the links to their positions of Figure 1 thereby toelevate the presshead I9.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that after the initial downwardmovement of the press head I! by the manual effort-of the operator thepressing operation is carried through automatically and the speed of theoperation and the length of time that the press remains closed can bevaried at the will oi the operator. The cylinder l8, plunger 34, vessel32 and the pipes connecting the vessel and the cylinder combine to forma dash pot which aflords an effective means for controlling thelength-of time that the press is held in a closed position. Likewise, aspreviously explained, the attachment 30 automatically operates thesuction means which withdraws the steam from the garment after thepressing further description of the attachment 3!! is consideredunnecessary. Likewise, it will be readily apparent from the precedingdescription that the attachment 30 can be readily adapted'to manuallyoperated presses of all types.

Various modifications and changes are contemplated, and may obviously beresorted to, provided they fall within the spirit and scope of theinvention as hereinafter defined by the appended claims, as only apreferred embodiment of the invention has been disclosed.

I claim as my invention:

1. A semi-automatic operating attachment for garment presses, comprisinga cylinder, a piston slidably mounted therein and having a dependingpiston rod connected to the head-closing toggle of a garment press, asupply line for a piston actuating medium having branch passages openinginto the ends of the cylinder, a valve interposed in the supply line forcontrolling the flow of the medium to one or the other of the branchpassages, means connected to the piston rod for actuating said valvenear the beginning of the downstroke of the piston to position saidvalve so that the medium will pass to the upper end of the cylinder toforce the piston down for closing the presshead, and gravity actuatedmeans for actuating the valve, after the piston has reached the lowerend of its stroke, for moving the valve so that the medium will beadmitted to the lower end of the cylinder for forcing the pistonupwardly to open the press head.

2. An attachment as in claim 1, and an exhaust port for the medium,controlled by the valve, for releasing the medium from the end of thecylinder toward which the piston is moving.

3. An attachment as in claim 1, and means for regulating the speed ofmovement of the piston to regulate the closing and opening speed of thepress head.

4. An attachment as in claim 1. said gravity actuated means beingadjustable for varying the interval between the time the piston reachesthe lower end of its stroke and the time at which the valve is actuatedby said gravity means.

5. An attachment as in claim 1, and a latch element for engaging saidfirst mentioned means,

when it is in a fully raised position, for holding the piston in araised position.

6. An attachment as in claim 1, means for normally regulating the flowof the medium through the branch passages for regulating the speed ofmovement of the piston, and manually controlled means, forming a part ofthe gravity means, for regulating the interval between the time thepiston reaches its lowermost position and the time when the valve isactuated by the gravity means.

7. An operator for use with garment presses comprising in combinationwith a press-head toggle of a garment press a cylinder, a pistonslidably mounted therein, a piston rod connected to the piston and tosaid press head toggle, a supply line for steam, avalve for controllingthe supply line for admitting steam alternately to the ends of thecylinder to reciprocate the piston, means for actuating the valve justafter the piston has begun to move away from one end of the cylinder toadmit steam to said end of the cylinder, and means rendered operativethrough and bythe last-mentioned movement of the piston for actuatingthe valve after the piston has reached the other end of its movement toadmit steam to the opposite end of the cylinder-to move the piston inthe opposite direction.

8. An operator as in claim 7, said last mentioned means including adashpot comprising a cylinder and plunger, said plunger being movable bygravity in one direction to actuate the valve, said plunger beingactuated by the piston rod for movement in the other direction, andpipes for admitting a liquid to and releasing the liquid from thedashpot cylinder for regulating the the valve, and a cam guide to engagethe detent to move it out of engagement with the arm after the valve hasbeen actuated thereby.

WALLACE SCOTT GRAHAM.

